The Thinkers
by black.lucas42yahoo.co.uk
Summary: The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive on a mysterious planet of mutated creatures, incredible intellectuals, and a sinister order of leadership...
1. A Friendly Game

The Doctor gleefully rubbed his hands together, while Jamie stared intently at the wooden board between Victoria and himself.  
They were playing a game of chess together, with the Doctor supervising to ensure the rules were being followed, and to act as a timer since, according to the Doctor, the one thing the TARDIS oddly didn't possess was a clock.  
The only problem with the Doctor refereeing their match was that he had already worked out strategies for both players in his head, and was doing everything in his power not to blurt them out and ruin the game.  
What made it even worse was that Jamie kept forgetting the rules of the game, and often tried to move a Pawn in an L-Shape, only to be scolded by the Doctor for making such a clumsy mistake _again_.  
Jamie kept staring at the board, trying to make sense of the game. He wasn't playing to win, he was doing his best to remember all the rules the Doctor had rattled off to him in a five minute lecture, and trying to look like he was concentrating on the game.  
In reality, he was simply playing for time for as long as he could.  
Jamie reached out, and picked up a pawn, and moved it five spaces forwards, to take Victoria's king.  
"No, no, Jamie, that's an illegal move." The Doctor said.  
Jamie silently moved the pawn back to its original place, and put it down, only for the Doctor to pipe up again.  
"Ah-ah-ah!" The Doctor yelped, almost happy that it gave him a chance to talk even more. "Once you've picked up a piece, you must move it!"  
"But I don't know where tae put it, Doctor!" Jamie protested.  
"Then strategize before you make a move, Jamie!" He replied grumpily.  
"Can't ye give me a bit of a hand, Doctor?" Jamie pleaded, the pawn still in his hand.  
"If I did I'd hardly be a fair referee, now would I?" He asked rhetorically. Jamie sighed, and began scanning the board for any possible moves, the pawn still in his hand.  
The Doctor, feeling sorry for the lad, turned to look at the console, which was rising and falling in a smooth, steady rhythm.  
"I say, Victoria," He said, getting the young lady's attention. As soon as he had looked away from the game, the Doctor tapped square C5.  
"Doesn't that look awfully like… oh, you know…" The Doctor said, snapping his fingers. "What are those things called again?"  
"What do you mean, Doctor?" Victoria asked, her concentration fully on the Doctor now.  
"Oh, nothing, I've completely forgotten. It'll come to me later, I'm sure." He said, turning back to the game. "Now, Jamie, are you ready to make your move at last?" He asked, with a slight smirk. Jamie smiled confidently, and placed his pawn down on square C5.  
"Yes, I am." He said, smiling.  
His smile soon faded however, as Victoria, smiling herself, picked up her rook, and moved it forwards two spaces.  
"Check mate." She stated.  
"Check mate!" The Doctor echoed happily.  
"What?! But… what?!" Jamie gasped, unable to believe what had happened. He turned to the Doctor, anger etched on his face. "Doctor, why did you tell me to move to C5?!"  
"Because you shouldn't cheat, Jamie! Perhaps that'll be a lesson to you!" He said, walking over to the console, now that the game had finished.  
Jamie just sat at the board, flabbergasted and angry.  
"Doctor, that was a very mean trick on the both of us!" Victoria stated, crossing her arms over her chest.  
"It was indeed, but perhaps you've both learned something!" He said, grinning at them. "Jamie has learned not to cheat, and Victoria has learned not to lose focus in the middle of something important."  
Just as Victoria and Jamie were about to complain, there was a quiet dinging coming from the console. The Doctor turned and walked around to where the sound was coming from.  
"Ah, that's new!" The Doctor cried, looking giddily at the scanner.  
Jamie and Victoria turned and looked at the scanner too, seeing a strange, almost lumpy planet, rotating slowly in the otherwise empty blackness of outer space.  
"What is it, Doctor? Some kind of ship?" Jamie asked.  
"I don't think so, Jamie. It seems to be a planet of some sorts, although certainly an artificial one. But as to its name or origin… I can't make a head or tail out of it." The Doctor replied.  
Without waiting for any other conversation to begin, the Doctor began the landing protocols for the TARDIS, as it drew closer to the slowly turning planet.

* * *  
On the planet's surface, several deformed, mutated creatures looked up at the blue box which was slowly orbiting the planet. They all raised their heads, or what they could consider their head, and made various howling, screeching, cawing noises…


	2. On The Planet Rova

The TARDIS made its usual groaning, wheezing sounds as it came into full form on the surface of the planet. Whatever creatures may have been on the planet previously had scattered at the sight and sound of the strange blue box.

The Doctor was the first to emerge, curiosity and wonder gleaming in his eyes.

He took a tentative step out of the TARDIS, and found that the earth beneath his feet was made out of solid geometric shapes of dirt and foliage. Triangles, rhombuses, parallelograms, pentagons, hexagons, and many other shapes, which all fit together like some sort of strange puzzle, linking and interlocking to form a lumpy, yet defined surface of earth and moss. Even the roots of the trees and shrubs seemed to follow the pattern, slipping between each shape perfectly.

Jamie was next to follow, with Victoria hanging back for as long as she could, before reluctantly walking out with them. They both noticed the strangely geometric surface of the planet, while the Doctor was engrossed with his surroundings.

Immediately to the left of the TARDIS was a large building, dome-shaped, yet made with the same geometric pattern. To the right was just dense jungle and scrubland.

Without waiting to consider any possible dangers, the Doctor began striding towards the building, hands thrust deep in the pockets of his shabby black coat.

"'ey, Doctor!" Jamie called.

"Yes?" The Doctor replied, stopping in his stride.

"Where are we anyhow? This disnae look like Scotland to me." He said, huffing with slight homesickness.

"Well spotted Jamie." The Doctor replied, with a slight air of condescension. "I'm afraid I… I'm not quite sure." He said, examining the geometric ground beneath their feet. "The structure of this planet seems to be impossibly coordinated…" He mused, sweeping his hand across a hexagonal piece of earth. "Clearly programmed, although how a being could program the construction of a planet…" He murmured, trailing off.

He stood up and took a look at the domed building instead, taking in its exact shape and size. He would have continued, had Victoria not interrupted his train of thought.

"Doctor, I don't like this place." She said quietly. Jamie took a step closer to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Easy there, I'm sure the Doctor knows what he's doing." He said, smiling at her. She didn't return the smile, as at that exact moment the Doctor was crouching down and digging in the earth like a small dog. He stood up again, holding a soft pile of earth in his hand. It seemed even the grains of soil on this planet were geometric in design.

"Hm, yes, very peculiar…" He murmured, before dusting his hands together, and proceeding to move on examining the dome.

Jamie sighed, feeling himself about to get embroiled in another wild escapade. Although, provided there were no more phantom pipers, he would be fine… he hoped. He stepped to follow the Doctor, and felt Victoria come close behind him, whether for security or comfort he wasn't sure.

Upon drawing closer to the dome, it began to pulsate with light, a pale white glow seeping out from where the geometric blocks linked together. As they drew ever nearer, some of the blocks began to grind as they slid out of their path, revealing an entrance to the dome.

"Into the wild we go…" The Doctor murmured, as he led the way into the dome, into the vast darkness in front of them.

Upon entering, the door behind them reformed, closing up and plunging them into utter blackness.

"Doctor…" Victoria whispered, trembling. "I'm frightened…"

"Don't worry, my dear…" He replied. "I have a feeling the constructors of this dome will reveal themselves shortly…"

As if on cue, several bright lights blinked on, revealing the centre of the dome was a large podium, on which stood three humanoid beings, clad in robes and dark metal helmets which covered their faces entirely.

"Approach." One of them announced. It was strange, but although the voice came from the middle person, it seemed to somehow be repeated quietly from the other two, as if they were both echoing him.

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria each took a step forwards, coming closer to the podium.

"You are on the planet Rova." The first told him.

"We are the Thinkers." The trio told them. "We have become the most intelligent beings in the universe."

They each held out their hands to the time-travellers.

"You may join us, become one with us, and aid us in our quest of improving the universe, if you can prove your intelligence."

"If you cannot…" One said.

"Then you will be exiled to the wilderness of Rova…"

"And to the beasts which roam there."

Silence pervaded the dome after this statement, leaving the trio of time-travellers to question their safety in this place.

"Doctor," Jamie began.

"Yes Jamie, I'm aware…" The Doctor said, his face turning grim. "It appears we don't have a choice. We must do as they say, as I doubt any of us have a desire to go back outside" The Thinkers began to walk towards them, stepping down the podium, each still holding out one hand.

"Let us begin." They announced.


	3. The First Puzzle

The Thinkers took the three time-travellers to separate rooms. Victoria greatly disliked being taken away from Jamie, but did her best to appear brave. They were taken to the rooms and placed inside, but each room was identical. Constructed of the same odd yet perfect geometry as the dome and the rest of the planet, with a small hexagonal pedestal in the centre, upon which rested a small white box.  
The Doctor wasted no time in immediately examining the object, picking it up and inspecting it from all angles, poking and prodding it to see what it did. Upon a very close inspection, he ascertained that it was made up of numerous pieces which were all fitted tightly together, giving the illusory appearance of being completely. The Doctor 'hm'd and 'ha'd, until finally he pushed one block, and it slid clear of the others, revealing something black underneath the hard white substance.  
He continued to slide more of the blocks away, realising soon that they were in a sequence of logic through numbers. 1-5, 2-5, 3-5, and so on. Eventually all the white pieces had fallen away onto the pedestal, revealing a smaller black box inside, which sat comfortably in the Doctor's hand.

Jamie, on the other hand, had begun by looking around the room, doing what he could to avoid the pedestal. The Doctor was always the one who did the thinking between them all. That was what he was good at. Jamie, upon inspecting the box, couldn't fathom it's usage at all. He picked it up and looked it over, but couldn't come to any sensible reasoning as to its purpose. Taking to his highlander roots and pounded the box hard against the pedestal, only for the box to suffer no apparent damage to either the box or the pedestal.  
Jamie began prising at the box, sniffing it, biting it, and eventually proceeded to use every rude word in his vocabulary, even inventing several new ones in the process, but still the box refused to reveal its secrets to the Scot.

Victoria, like the Doctor, began by examining the box, but couldn't find anything about it worth noting or paying attention to. She was searching for some sort of indentation or groove, or any kind of mechanism which could aid in her accomplishing the puzzle. But the box was perfectly smooth at every point, even it's corners were rounded. She couldn't even understand what material it was constructed from, it was cold like metal, but smooth like plastic, yet strong as diamonds.  
She too noticed that the box was made out of pieces, but wasn't aware what order they were to be pressed in. She managed to find the first option, but once it was pressed, she had to locate the other, and upon pressing the wrong one, the first slid back out, and Victoria had to locate it all over again.

At long last, the Thinkers returned to collect the trio, taking them back to the main hall. Jamie was brought in first, and once he saw Victoria entering, the two ran to see each other, making sure they were both alright. Then the Doctor entered, and joined the two, explaining how he had solved the puzzle.  
Then the Thinkers took their place on the podium once more.  
"Only one of you completed the challenge." The middle-most Thinker announced. "This is disappointing, but promising regardless. We shall proceed with our next test to further examine your mental processes."


End file.
